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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. wind — moving air
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. court — of a king
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. season — of the year
  8. season — in sport
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. court — of law
  11. land — a country
  12. content — happy
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. track — a path
  15. track — a song
  16. content — the amount
  17. court — for sport
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. land — ground
  20. wind — moving air
  21. track — to keep track
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. kick — in football

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com